Smooth_J

I am currently in this situation...

Sometimes I cannot take the advice I give out so thats why I am asking for some right now from my fellow SL members. I really want to get a supercharger (want to keep the factory warranty) for my car and most likely not do too much else with it. I am currently making payments on my car @ $410 a month and ins @ $330 a month (under 25 with a few ins points) as well. I am saving for a house and most likely getting married pretty soon (next year if things go well).

Does even think I should still go with this upgrade, or should I just say heck with it for now? I have been trying to convince myself, but I am still unsure.

Please help me decide.... Thank you.

BZinn1

$740 a month to drive a car...........unless you make over $2500 a month take home I would not invest more into a car........at $2500 you are over 30% of your income........a house should cost less than 50% of the incomeif it cost more than do not purchase till you make more..........numbers add up fast and next thing you know you are broke,divorced and sittign in an expensive car with a supercharger.........

HR_Guy

I drove crappy beater cars for the longest time, up until I was 23. First I paid off all student loans, then once I bought my house and got married, I was able to invest more into mods, but my tC is a daily driver and gets pretty much no money invested into it. My advice would be to hold out until you get a house first. You'll be happier in the long run.

enjoithis

agreed ^

Also, its just a part of upgrading your car, when you add a supercharger expect higher maintenance cost (tires, brakes, clutch) all a little sooner than normal, and expect that you can run into future problems.

tC4italy

If you are having doubts whether u can comfortably afford it, it means you shouldn't do it.

What if you get the S/C but cannot enjoy it cos you will have to worry bout gas? house? marriage? wife? etc etc...

Just save up now for the house then when your in the financial comfort zone then you can splurge on the S/C or maybe even a more powerful car =)

2 cents from a financial analyst (who erraneously eats at her savings).

jurassic1

I've always been taught when I was young that when faced w/ a dilemma such as yours, always ask yourself "Do I really need it?" about 10 times, and when you're done ask yourself the same question another 10 times more. That's when practicality hits you in the head.....actually i'm also in the same dilemma but on a different matter: I'm also in the brink of settling down and hopefully buy a house/condo. But i wanted to buy something (expensive). It is frustrating, I know. But you know what, I see we are both still in our 20's.---and should I say it? "We are still young"---as they say.

There is wisdom in what BZinn1 and TC4italy both said. I've also decided to be practical esp when I am about to start a family....so I say save up for the house first so you and your future wife and kids will have a nice place of your own to call "home" someday. When everything's said and done, THEN, you can reward yourself with all the mods you can dream of for a job well done.

tCTaco

iTrader: (1)

Its the classic....."If you have to ask then you cant afford it"

Just stick it out....I wanted to buy somethings for my car..but decided that there are more important things I could use my money on.........like GUNS!

jurassic1

lol! I guess Texans really love their guns!

tCTaco

iTrader: (1)

...yeah, cause we are always planning for the revolution

jurassic1

Go Megatron!

AAG

iTrader: (1)

Man you seriously need to shop around for car insurance because you are getting hit pretty hard. As for the S/C, I 'd say save your money for the house.

daydr3am

I agree with AAG that your insurance is ridiculous.. shopping around should be able to help lower your monthly payments. Also, if you want to purchase a home soon, or possibly get married, that is probably more important than having a supercharger.

EDDIEA123

iTrader: (5)

That insurance cost is preety high and i would say just save for the bigger things first then everything under would seem like less and youll be more relaxed

kjmira

Save your money.... get rid of the wife! J/k Buy a house first, then wait for the market to go up agian, refinance, then buy 2 s/c, one for you and one for me. J/k. Hold off on the s/c for now. It sounds like you've really got some more important plans going on in your life and you should really wait to get those done before you treat yourself to something that ideally is not a good investment. I had that same dilemma, but realised that family is much more important.

Hyghgynx

Definitely house first. Which will last you longer? (Or is a better investment?) A house or a S/C?

XPRESSCION

Okay, I'm the same age. I make roughly $2k a month for take home.

I've been through alot of **** within these past two years. So I'm perfect example.

Went to college for a year; dropped out. Took out three different loans: $10k, 2.5k, and 2k. Got a job working with dogs; made $6.00. While owning a '95 Ford Probe. Car started having transmission problems so decided on throwing in the towel. While I only have two credit cards. Bought a '06 xA. $288.00/mo. @ 72 months while making $8.00. My money was being spent for gas cause I was having too much fun.

So my family members panic and one of them decided to give her current employer a reference for me for employment. They liked me and offered warehouse position making close to $15.00s. All my bills were paid within ONE check! I applied for three more credit cards...got them. Raised the limit. While people at work were telling me "You can afford nice starter home." Didn't listen. Later that year, I decided on buying a '07 tC while still owning my xA. My sales consultant sold me my xA and we kind of developed friendship. So I went back to her...she agreed at first but privately against. I don't know how she did it but every loan I got accepted required me to trade in the xA. So I did for $470 @72 months.

May '07 came along, friend asks me to go in for apartment lease. I agree since I still haven't moved out. (Here's the whole story about that. https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...300&highlight= )

Anyway, bills piled up and can't control them while trying to make a difference.

Now what I know now...what I could of know then.....

Kept the xA while paying off my credit cards. Then this summer buy a starter home with my two years of employment.

----------

I know its cool to have nice car. And to loaded up with tons of parts like TRD for bragging.

But a house is much more useful.

jurassic1

amen sister!I hope you got your predicament fixed up...i just read ur thread....

Smooth_J

Thank you _ALL_ for the advice so far.

I just made my last payment to my CC (last week or so) and I am very happy about that. I have 3 credit cards and combined I pretty much buy a new Mustang GT with a S/C. However I am not that nuts I won't cancel them since its good to have a lot of open credit (from what I read).

Guess the one thing that is keeping me down is the amount of money needed for the DP of the house. We have around 8 saved up, however we need at least 10% of the house cost. So a normal size house is around 270K, so we need to save up at least 27k to avoid excess insurance costs and etc.

It will be hard, yes - but I know it can be done...

Thank you once again for the advice so far.

silscion

you will get more pleasure from being debt free than 200 HP

Smooth_J

XPRESSCION; I just read that thread too and I hope everything is going ok